A Note of Apology

I have met some wonderful people on this site and I have let you down.  The posts I have read have been filled with feeling, so much talent, unique and wonderful ideas and I go off, as I so often do, and get involved in something else.  Nothing important, just this and that.  Oh, I always mean to come back, but what do they say about a certain road?  Something about good intentions?  So, my good friends, I owe you an apology, for wandering off following some pretty bird and getting lost, not finding my way back because then there was that baby deer, then a butterfly was so pretty I just had to follow it and I saw a waterfall and then …. well you get the idea.  I have another couple of chapters in that book.  I hope you enjoy them as much as you did the first.  I have to make sure they are complete.  Between the two computers I sometimes wind up with half a chapter on one and half on the other.

What I love about all of you is your  individuality, your honesty, your devotion to your craft.  You have much to teach me.

 

Freedom of Religion or Freedom of Worship?

Of late, the term Freedom of Worship has been gaining popularity.  So, is Freedom of Worship the same thing as Freedom of Religion?  You guessed it, I am talking about the First Amendment.  I do not know if you realize it, but many of our rights have disappeared, especially during our present administration.  We have lost a lot because Barrack Hussein Obama believes he knows what we need better than we do.  Basically his decisions are based purely on his own personal agenda.  Anyway, that is a blog for another time.

Let me explain the politically correct meanings of Freedom of Worship and Freedom of Religion.  Freedom of Religion is exactly what it says.  The freedom to believe what you want how you want.  This implies a particular world view.  For instance, the world view of someone who embraces the Islamic faith is different from a person who embraces the Christian faith, which is again, different from an atheist.  This is the freedom expressed in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

The concept of Freedom of Worship is a new term.  It refers to what an individual does in his or her place of worship for an hour or two a week.  This does not dictate actions outside of that time of worship.  It implies a global world view as the act of worship, according to the individuals who coined the phrase does not impact actions once outside of the room, church, temple, etc.   Are you seeing the difference?

Freedom of Worship means that, in my case, I give worship and praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ every Sunday, but on Monday I follow the world view and actions set forth by my government.  Thus I will support Planned Parenthood, if I am a service provider I make no distinctions that would be biblical in any way.  You see, biblical decisions and actions would ONLY take place during my worship time or in the privacy of my own home.  The teachings of Jesus Christ could not impact my actions outside of my church or my home.  This I would not live and act with a Christian world view but with an Obama world view.

So, by a clever use of words, our Freedom of Religion, as guaranteed by our First Amendment, is wiped away.  Those in power would say no, we do not understand, we still have Freedom of Worship.  We would be offered re-education classes in human rights, sensitivity, and non-discrimination so we could be “welcomed back into the fold” so to speak.

You may ask, why this differentiation is so important.  There is a huge difference between these to terms.  Our forefathers came to America to practice their faith in God as they chose.  The Pilgrims, actually Quakers, had a specific belief in Jesus Christ, more Calvinistic than the Church of England and this formed their world view.  You see, one’s belief in God dictates their actions in their life.  For instance, compare the world view of an atheist, a Muslim, and a christian.  The atheist has no higher power to be responsible to, no set of morals to live up to other than the laws of the state and his own viewpoint.  He believes in the relativism of right and wrong and will say that what is right for one person may not be right for another, all is relative to the situation and the individual.  On the other hand, the Muslim is controlled by the Q’ran.  His treatment of family, friends, eating habits, business practices, worship are all found in the Q’ran.  His world view is dictated by his religious belief.  The same goes for the Christian.  The Old and New Testaments of the Bible shape the Christian’s behavior not only in church and with his family, but in the real world.

If this nation were to adopt a Freedom of Worship policy, Christians would be forced to accept abortion, sale of fetal body parts, even the purposeful harvesting of fetus…..heck, BABIES, for their pieces and parts, Christmas would be gone and something else would be in it’s place, Easter would become Bunny Day or some such thing.

Those are not the only ways we would be affected.  Books with a religious theme, be they fiction or non-fiction would not be found in book stores,  Publications from only world-based publishers and authors would be available.  Children would receive worldly teaching with regard to sex education and birth control.  Chaplins in any organization would become mental health workers.  Think of other basic changes;  in court, who would you swear to?

Fodder for further thought … Our liberal leadership has already discounted, ignored, “modernized” our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution; history is being rewritten to suit the post modernistic philosophy of relativism; today’s students are being taught that capitalism is bad and socialism is good, the list goes on and on.  At what point will we, as citizens of the United States of America say ENOUGH!!!!  When will we stand up and honor our founding fathers?  If you read, I mean READ the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and it becomes evident that these papers as well as the Federalist Papers are as applicable today as they were when they were written.

We have a choice, remain free and stay vigilant and protect our freedoms or lay down and let narcissits like Obama tell us how we can live.

Just gotta say it

It’s been a rough week.  Yeah, I know. world’s smallest violin.  Trying so hard to beat back my depressive thoughts and feelings.  Even with the fiercest fight I loose more than I win.  I was just starting to get a grip when this morning my eyes started in.  Yes, I am over-tired.  That is normal.  Could not say why I don’t go to bed.  Then with a dog and three cats, it can be a challenge to get to sleep.  Anyway, made myself as pretty as I can anymore, those days are kind of done, and had to say, I didn’t look half bad.   Then the eyes started.  They teared and teared and teared.  Teared all the make-up off and I looked like I had been sobbing up a storm.  Then in church they started to sing “You are a good Father” and then the tears weren’t because I have a medical issue, they were real.  I miss my dad so much.  Anyway, the tears continued all through church, so did the nose.  Didn’t stop to visit, came straight home.

Now understand, I love my husband, but it does get so lonely at home.  I have to holler for a conversation, explain what I said, then say never mind.  I fell asleep and I was home, or rather in a home with Mom and Dad and an earlier “love of my life.”    Both Mom and Dad were dying of cancer.  Daddy decided to join the airborne at his age (somewhere between 85 and 93).  It was crazy and mixed up and i wanted to keep my loved ones together and I woke up crying.

All this leaves me feeling seperated from friends and family, it is so hard to beat down, the wound of losing my parents is ripped open over and over and the wound gets bigger, the edges more jagged, the whole think more painful.

I know these are attacks from the evil one, to keep me from accomplishing what God has for me to do.  I can overcome things from the outside, but this, these attacks, the enemy knows the lowest place to hit, that is for sure.

Hey Lady Hey!

lonely lady

 

Verse 1

Hey lady!  Hey!

What you doin?

I see you lots , all alone,

Alone at church.

Alone at the store.

Alone with your dog.

Verse 2

Hey Lady, Hey! What you doin?

I see you with people, But you’re still all alone.

Why don’t you join in?  Why not have some fun.

Hey, you leav’in?

Why?  The fun is inside, the smiles, the laughter

Why you leave that behind, to go be alone?

Verse 3

Hey lady, hey!  What you do’in

I don’t get you, not one bit.

You could be happy, you could be smil’in.

You could be laugh’in  yo’self silly

With people who care.

You don’t give them a chance.

Verse 4

Hey, lady, hey,!  What you doin’?

God gave you friends.

He put them there, you just need to stay.

Why can’t you take the gifts He gives?

Ain’t no one in there better or worse than you,

He thinks you is special, why can’t you?

Verse 5

Hey, lady, hey, what you doin?

Maybe you wouldn’t be so sad if you’d stop your mopin’

What’s that you say, “Done too much wrong?”

Did you hear?  You is forgiven!

You ain’t no victim. So stop hidin’ from the world;

Stop hidin’ from yo’self.

Verse 6
Hey, Lady, Hey!

God had lots for you to do!

And you ain’t gonna do it act’in the way you do.

You get yo’self up; you read His Word.

You get outta your chair, get out in His world.

His joy is out there, no more of this junk.

Verse 7
Hey, Lady, Hey!

Throw that pity party out and pick yo’self up.

Do His will, with joy in your heart. He’ll put it there; you’ll see.

So walk by faith, be brave if that’s what it takes.

Next time I ask, “Hey Lady! What you doin?”

I want to see a real smile on that face.

 

This has been a day

Have you ever had one of those days.  It starts off well enough, I got up, lolled around a bit, took my time, this or that.  Finally left to get fingerprinted but the person was not there so I drove to the other end of town, paid $20 and turned them in in hopes of eventually getting an appointment with the school principal for a sub position.   Then roamed Winn Dixie feeling quite victorious when I found some bottom round roasts on sale 2 for 1 and got a fair amount of supplies for less than $50.  Got to my car and saw I had forgotten my phone (typical) and that I had received 2 calls.  Calls!  No one calls me (except people who want money).

Ches called to say he was at the hospital with his son, Patrick.  Patrick had complained of pain in his head and then his speech became garbled.  Ches took him to the ER and they admitted him.  After all kinds of tests, CAT Scans, blood tests, etc. they were no closer to finding out what was wrong so they transferred him to All Children’s in St. Petersburg.  They will probably not test until tomorrow.

Our cousin, Skip, has no small amount of medical background and knowledge and he suggested that Patrick has a  condition of migraines that is not usually seen in children.  Ches suffers horribly from migraines but he is not able to get help because he does not qualify for Medicare.  He makes less than $5000 a year but does not qualify.  Don’t get me started.

So, now I have Frank, who had a malignant carcinoma and they good half of the side of his face and we hope there are no more to come.  We can continue to pray for Patrick.  For if this migraine diagnosis is it or if it is something else, what does it portend for Patrick and his future?  This condition has ruined Ches’s life but he can’t get help.

I am going to have to get a job.  I can’t resent it, but I am so tired of the trials and the worries.  Can’t say I am excited about working again, but it is obvious we are going to need the money.  I had really hoped to just do my thing, but I need to make my “thing” money.

I have to think about all of this.  There is so much more I haven’t even talked about.  Life is really hard and I am really tired.

Names and what they mean

I have been giving this some thought.  You know, names are supposed to be a reflection of us, our character, our Temperment.  My name, Kathleen is from the Irish and it means “pure”.  Well, it took me some time to get there, but through the Grace of God, I am becoming just that.  God has set about, for years now, refining me and purifying, like pure gold.  I hate the process, but if I would just do His will life would be so much easier.  I pray He never stops making me better.

I think of my eldest son’s name, Frederick.  This means peaceful Ruler.  Erick has his moments, as we all do, but he lives up to his name.  He shows the patience and mercy of our Lord with a wisdom well beyond his years.  It had not been my plan to name him Frederick, but due to family situations, he was so named.  God’s way of setting Erick’s path.

Frank, my second son and my husband.  It means “Free Man” and I must say both of them, in their own way are just that.  Frank Sr. is free in that he is self sufficient all in himself.  He is satisfied with his own company and finds it difficult to socialize.   Yet a kinder, gentler soul you will never meet.  Frank Jr. on the other hand finds his freedom in his lifestyle.  He walks to the beat of his own drummer which has lead to good and bad consequences for him.  I fear his sense of freedom will eventually lead him to one of those “if only” scenarios, but he is a free thinker, takes care of his family and is a wonderful man and father.

Matthew.  I picked that name because I liked how it felt when I said it and how it sounded.  What a treasure he is now.  What does it mean?  Oh my ….  “God’s Gift”!   Years back you could not have convinced me of that, but he has grown and matured and truly is “God’s Gift.”  I now know why God never gave up on him and why I couldn’t, not then, not now, now ever.  Matthew was like the apostle Matthew and has grown just like the apostle.  God has many more things in store for him and will, with Matt’s cooperation, make him a gift to those whose lives he touches.

I could go on but our names are a reflection of what God has in store for us and how  we can bless and be blessed.  Why not look into your name, look at the promise it holds and how it can show you your path in life?  Remember, nothing is as random as we may think and there is a reason we have the names we have.